Covid-19 Impact on Realtors. Anyone Else Struggling?

[Mark Weinstein]

Hey BP Fam,

Let me start this post by saying that the Covid-19 pandemic is effecting millions of people worldwide and people are literally losing their lives. I understand how grateful I am for my health and I understand things can be much worst. This post isn’t some “Why Me” post, it’s simply to see how other people in our field are dealing RIGHT NOW, not later.

Things are very bad at the moment and I’m wondering am I the only one financially struggling THIS bad? And by financially struggling I don’t mean having tenants not pay the rent, owing back taxes, not being able to close a deal, etc. When I say financially struggling I mean literally having $25 in your bank account with no direction on where my next dollar is coming from.

Everything in my state (NY) is shut down so it’s not like I can do some PT work to make ends meet. Even the restaurant I use to bartend at is closed and they NEVER close. Manager told me they had to lay-off hundreds of employees so I’m sure others are feeling my pain.

I’m relatively new as a real estate agent so I’m living commission check to commission check with very little savings. When the state was shutdown in mid March I had only about $800 in my saving which is now down to $25 so I’ve officially hit panic mode. To my other fellow realtors, how are you bringing in any kind of money to even survive right now? It wasn’t like we had weeks/months to prepare for this occurring, everything seemed to happen in a flash. I’m sure most of you have enough in Savings to help you get through this, but to those who don’t do you mind giving some advice on how you’re getting through this crazy time?

I filed for unemployment last week and they’re telling me it takes 3-4 weeks to receive your first check. My 2018 Tax Return didn’t use Direct Deposit so who knows how many months its going to take to get the Stimulus Check. The two forms of assistance the government is offering obviously helps but what are people without income doing NOW? Obviously $25 isn’t going to stretch until that time so I’m in panic mode wondering how I’m suppose to live. If you would have told me a month ago that in a month I would be in the position I’m in right now, I would have laughed.

Anyway, any advice/input/suggestions/recommendations are much appreciated. Trust me, I need all of it that I can get. Thanks in advance for your time guys!